There was a familiar South African angle for Brett Crawford when the 21 lots cataloged for this year’s Hong Kong International Sale breezed at Sha Tin on Saturday morning ahead of the July 3 auction.
This year’s catalog draws together horses sourced from Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Britain and South Africa, with 14 sires represented. Among them are two South African-bred lots by What A Winter and Gimmethegreenlight, two stallions from Crawford’s old training base.
“I know both sires really well, I’ve had many of their progeny,” Crawford said. “What A Winter, he produces a really tough horse, so I would think that he would have no problem here.
“And Gimmethegreenlight, he’s been champion stallion. He’s not an easy stallion to pick progeny from — he can just throw different horses, in my opinion. A lot of his horses are a little petite, leaner, but this specific individual is a good-looking horse, he’s a good size.
“I thought both breezed well and they looked like horses with a lot of scope, which I think is quite important,” he said. “But on their conformation, I haven’t done that yet. I still need to go look at them in the stables, which we will do next week.
The Hong Kong International Sale was introduced by the Hong Kong Jockey Club in 1995, with International Sale Griffins sourced from yearling sales and pre-trained before arriving in Hong Kong.
The ISG Hall of Fame features the likes of Romantic Warrior, Good Ba Ba, Pakistan Star, The Duke and Scintillation, while there are currently 35 ISGs in training in Hong Kong. This season alone, ISG graduates have produced 39 wins from 20 individual horses.
There is also an HK$1 million ISG bonus, available to ISGs who win for the first time in Class 3 while rated 60 or higher before the end of their first full season.
Crawford said he was more interested in how the lots moved than what the clock said during Saturday morning’s breezes.
“There were a few that went really well in the breeze-ups. I was focusing more just on their actions today and not really times, how they moved on grass, so there were definitely a few to keep an eye on. Lot 2, he seemed to move really well. He seems like a nice horse.”
Executive Manager of Hong Kong International Sale and Owner Advisory Services Danny Rolston said conditions had worked out well after earlier concerns about the weather.
“We were a bit worried with the black rain coming through on Thursday, but that just put a little bit of juice in the ground and we ended up with perfect conditions as the weather cleared today,” Rolston said.
“The breeze-ups took place in really good conditions and all the horses went particularly well. Everything hit the line comfortably under its own steam.
“The ones that probably impressed most today were Lots 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 17, 20 and 21. Having an odd number is always a challenge, so you’ve got to find one horse that can go on his own, but Lot 21 did a pretty good job. He ran a nice, slick time without having any company.
“We had a good turnout. Historically, we don’t get as big a turnout on this day as we do for the sale itself, but the numbers that turned up today would give us a bit of confidence. I think the graduates of the sale have been particularly strong this current season.”
